


Winter

by nothingeverlost



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angst, Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-25
Updated: 2012-10-25
Packaged: 2017-11-17 01:13:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/545888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nothingeverlost/pseuds/nothingeverlost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She smiled at him, and that was all that mattered.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Winter

**Author's Note:**

> Rufeepeach wrote a heartbreakingly sad rumbelle fic based on “DARE! Try and write in no more than 300 words, the saddest Rumbelle fic known to man.”
> 
> I, of course, couldn’t resist the challenge. So here’s my 300 word fic. Normally I would put something this short in my 'Yarns' collection of random ficlets, but I wanted to be sure people saw the angst/character death warning.

He watched each day as her belly grew, heavy with child. She rested her hands on it, as if to hug the child. Or protect it. Once he even caught her singing a lullaby.

Pity, people in town said, about the father. She’s such a nice girl, and he’s, well, you know.

He didn’t listen to the gossip. Refused to acknowledge the stories they told. People would believe anything if it was juicy enough; if they wanted to believe Belle was unhappy, or forced into a marriage she hadn’t wanted that was their foolish choice. 

She smiled at him, and that was all that mattered.

They found her in the river, half a mile past the toll bridge. Hopper, taking Pongo for a walk, had seen her jump but by the time he got to her it was too late. The current was swift that time of year.

Belle had never liked winter.

It took less than twenty-four hours for the news to reach the patrons at Granny’s diner; all gossip made its way there eventually. Belle had left a note. Not at home; it might have been destroyed there. She’d left it with her father.

Sorry, she’d said. But there was only one way to protect her child from its father. She was a sinner, and her husband, the respected Reverend Frollo, had punished her often. He would do the same to their child, and she couldn’t allow it.

Silently Rumpelstiltskin left the diner. He walked to the church where a man on his knees was, even now, proclaiming his saintliness. He had to stop at his house to get the gun, but the pain in his knee from the walk was worth the shock in the man’s eyes just before his blood splattered on the altar and cross.


End file.
